The Taliban killed an Afghan woman accused of adultery and her lover in western Ghor province after it was discovered that she had fled her husband to be with another man, an Afghan official said.

Provincial spokesman Abdul Hai Khatebi said the couple tried to flee on a motorcycle but got stopped and captured by the Taliban at a checkpoint manned by the militants in their district.

Khatebi said it all happened on Wednesday, the Taliban detained the two, carried out a swift self-styled trial and handed down a death sentence for both.

The Taliban, who hold sway in nearly half of Afghanistan, are seeking to impose their harsh interpretation of Islam in areas they control. The militants consider adultery an offense punishable by death.